rape as a pre-existing condition

[threeplusfire]

A 38-year-old woman in Ithaca, N.Y., said she was raped last year and then penalized by insurers because in giving her medical history she mentioned an assault she suffered in college 17 years earlier. The woman, Kimberly Fallon, told a nurse about the previous attack and months later, her doctor's office sent her a bill for treatment. She said she was informed by a nurse and, later, the hospital's billing department that her health insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield, not only had declined payment for the rape exam, but also would not pay for therapy or medication for trauma because she "had been raped before."


Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/21/insurance-companies-rape-_n_328708.html

Because of the work I've done, the life I have lived, I know there are a lot shades of grey. Almost nothing in this life is black or white. I still believe that some things are utterly morally reprehensible though. Sexual assault goes on that list. I think I must also add any person who writes pre-existing condition down on a rape victim and denies them medical benefits or therapy because of it.

I think a lot about the human condition while I read the news. There's so much selfishness and such a lack of compassion that drives so much of what's wrong with us. From the healthcare situation to the equal rights movement to taxes and wars and neighborhood development, there's such a virulent strain of unwillingness.

God knows I am not as compassionate as I should be, that I'm often angry. There is so much grey.

When it makes my head hurt too much, I flip over to The Good Dollar community to remind myself that even small amounts count. (If you want to see a concise post on how much money has been raised and where it went over the past three months, go here for it. I encourage you to join.)

That's just the work of a few dozen people, a tiny fraction of time spent online. But I find it very inspiring, and I've found in the past three months I've made a substantial effort to make more small donations here and there.

Comments

[splix.livejournal.com]

Pre-existing condition?

My head is so close to exploding. I'm sitting here gnashing and flailing...jesus christ.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I know. It's the sort of thing that make want to punch a person in the face, it's so insane. It doesn't even make sense.

[alainn-sorcha.livejournal.com]

This is horrible.

You should listen to the two This American Life episodes on the health care system in America. They're fabulous.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

Every time I read some story, I think I can't possibly hear anything more awful. But then I do.

[sykii.livejournal.com]

This is probably already on your radar, but domestic violence is also a preexisting condition and reason for denial of coverage at most insurance companies. I'd dig up some links, but I'm not even supposed to be on LJ right now!

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

How anyone could ever justify that, I will never, never know. Surely that sort of thing is a great way to fast track yourself to hell.

[horosha.livejournal.com]

The rape story made me so incredibly mad when I first read it, I'm still fuming. I can't believe there are people out there still thinking we should kill the health care bill and not regulate shit. Makes me want to stand on the roof with a megaphone shouting THIS IS WHAT THEY'RE LIKE, PEOPLE! at the nearest FOX news station.